Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest continues to plunge

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon — Earth’s largest rainforest — is on a continued downward trajectory, according to data released today by Brazil’s national space research institute, INPE.

INPE’s deforestation alert system, known as DETER, indicates that forest clearing in Brazil’s section of the Amazon totaled 563 square kilometers in August 2023. This is a 66% decline — equating to nearly 1,100 square kilometers — compared to the same month the previous year.

Deforestation detected by DETER for the first eight months of 2023 amounted to 3,712 square kilometers. This is a 48% drop compared to the previous year and the lowest figure since 2018.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has seen a decrease for five consecutive months. This follows President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s commitment to curb the escalating forest loss in the region. Notably, during Lula’s earlier tenure in the 2000s, the annual rate of deforestation had also declined significantly.

Brazil is set to release its annual assessment of deforestation for the year ending July 31 in the coming weeks. This figure serves as the standard baseline for comparing deforestation rates.

Since the early 1970s, the Brazilian Amazon has lost just under 20% of its forest cover. Scientists express concern that the persistent deforestation, combined with forest degradation and the impacts of climate change, may put large areas of the rainforest at risk of transitioning to a drier, savanna-like ecosystem. Such a shift would have severe consequences for the region’s carbon storage, biodiversity, rainfall patterns, and the well-being of local communities.

Article published by Rhett Butler

Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Tropical Forests

Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, South America

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